Salman Latif is a software engineer with a specific interest in social media, big data and real-world solutions using the two.Other than that, he is a bit of a gypsy. He also writes in his own blog. You can find him on Google+ and Twitter .

Most of the Windows Phone users are already updated to version 7.5 of the firmware. However, for those who haven’t update to the version yet, Microsoft has now made it essential that they must update to 7.5 if they wish to access the Marketplace. Starting today, such users who haven’t updated yet won’t be able to access the Marketplace.

Of course not many Windows Phone users can live with no access to Marketplace since it is the app store for Windows Phone devices. So naturally, this means that Microsoft is wanting all users to upgrade to 7.5 version. Users will require the update to access the Marketplace’s phone and web stores, both.

According to Microsoft’s director of program management, “”Most phones are already running Windows Phone 7.5, which was released last fall, and so most of you won’t notice anything different about how the Marketplace works. However, if your phone has an earlier version of our software installed, you’ll soon start seeing an error message when you try to download a new app, or update one you already own.”

Such users who don’t update will get an error message when they try to download an app. However, installing the update is quite easy and since it is available for free, it shouldn’t be a problem for Windows Phone users. It can take a while for some devices, at times an hour or so but that’s not that bad.

Microsoft is of the opinion that this is being done so as to ensure the performance and security of the Marketplace. This does make sense that latest version tend to perform lot better on those two fronts.

For too many people, the realization that they need to back up their photos and videos only comes when they misplace or break their smartphones and lose everything. Here we a report on possible solution and best tools.

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